OXFORD — When Caden Prieskorn decided to leave Memphis and enter the NCAA Transfer Portal, he heard from a bevy of potential suitors.

Ole Miss was one of the first programs to reach out, and Prieskorn made the short trip down Interstate 55 to Oxford. His recruiting ended almost as soon as it began.

“Kiffin in the past has had great tight ends at his previous places,” Prieskorn said Tuesday. “I feel like they needed a guy who could do both — block and catch. I feel like I’m coming in to help push the room and come in and compete.

“I was weighing all my options. I had a bunch of people contact me when I was in the portal. I just felt like the way Kiffin uses his tight ends, they said they needed one and I just felt like it’d be a great fit. …When I visited here, it just felt different. I just felt like I had to be a part of it.”

So far, Prieskorn said, there has been truth in advertising. The 6-foot-6, 255-pound Michigan native has been running as the Rebels’ starting tight end, allowing Ole Miss to use Michael Trigg Jr. in an assortment of ways.

“I love it so far,” Prieskorn said. “I feel like coming here, there are people who are going to challenge me. There are so many good players around me that I have to do well. I feel like it’s been great so far and I think it’s going to continue to be great.”

Prieskorn caught 48 passes for 602 yards and seven touchdowns last season at Memphis. It was a breakout season, one that Ole Miss noticed.

“I think he’s a really kind of do-it-all consistent tight end,” Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin said. “We watched him last year. He has a big frame. It seems like over our time here, we’ve had more speciality tight ends. He has a bigger frame than the guys we’ve had and that helps in blocking. We were excited to get him. He’s a proven tight end with NFL measurable.”

In Ole Miss’ first spring scrimmage this past Saturday, Prieskorn and Trigg were on the field together quite a bit, with Prieskorn typically lined up as a traditional tight end and Trigg either lined up as an H-back or a slot receiver.

“I feel like we complement each other so well,” Prieskorn said. I do some stuff he does well and he does some stuff well that I don’t do so well. I feel like it’s been a great one-two punch.”

Asked what he brings to the Rebels’ offense, Prieskorn referred to his football intelligence.

“I’m a former quarterback so I feel like my IQ of the game, my knowledge of the game, helps me in a lot of ways in that aspect,” Prieskorn said. “I’m a competitor and I love to compete. That’s why I came to Ole Miss.”